BYU basketball unleashed pent-up fury on the Utah team that started Cougs' slip

The 13th-ranked BYU Cougars had a lot to prove as they stared down their second meeting with Utah on the season. Fresh off a double-digit road loss to Texas Tech, an athletic program that BYU is entirely sick of losing to, the Cougars have now struggled to meet expectations in three straight games.

It all began with the Kevin Young's last meeting with Alex Jensen and the Utes in Salt Lake City, when the then top-10 Cougs entered hostile territory as a double-digit favorite against one of the worst teams in the Big 12 Conference, and failed to create separation down the stretch. It was the same story with the TCU Horned Frogs later that same week in Provo. Battered, bruised, and gasping for breath, this BYU side narrowly escaped with hard-fought wins in conference play. Finally, stumbling with a late lead in Lubbock, BYU was finally caught with a bold 'L' on the schedule.

For the first seven minutes of game time, the visiting Utes were just trying to prove they could score from the floor. Fortunately for Utah, the home Cougars were nearly equally ice-cold on the other end.

But that's when the floodgates opened, and the might of basketball olympus was unleashed upon the the playing surface of the Marriott Center. From both ends, offense flowed like living water as Utah, one of the Big 12's worst shooting teams, and BYU, a team that has grappled with the very meaning of converting a three-point basket caught fire.

Clearly, there was something in the air in the Marriott Center tonight, as two fans hit half-court shots for cash and another hit five three-pointers to win a car. Sponsors of BYU basketball were positively crippled in a single evening.

42-37 at the half. After a season-low 13 points in the struggle against Tech, Dybantsa led the way for scoring with 19 points in the first half. Rob Wright III was equally potent, adding a wicked left hook to his All-American teammate's knockout uppercut.

But the bottom line of this game? A single headline to punctuate the evening? Look no further than these two words: AJ Dybantsa. The Cougars' surefire top 3 selection in the incoming NBA Draft arrived at BYU as a transcendent, generational scorer. An individual capable of not only scoring the basketball, but simultaneously bending the very fabric of reality in the meantime. Tonight, on a career high, he cemented his place in the BYU hall of fame as he positively decimated the outmatched Utes in a second-half eruption that pushed the Cougs' lead to a high of 21 as the second unit stepped onto the floor.

And it's a good thing that he took over like he did, too, because through the first 20 minutes of this contest, it seemed we were in for a replay of these rivals' previous matchup. The Utes held tight, keeping the differential within two possessions for the entire opening frame. Knocking down a scorching rate of three-point attempts, the Utes finished with a 62% rate from beyond the arc.

BYU basketball has been shaky in recent results, but I couldn't point to any team in the nation that could win a game by double digits when their opponent makes such a blistering number of threes. This is a defining win for this edition of BYU hoops. BYU's field goal rate of 53% outperformed their opposition's 46% (how Utah did so much better from distance than near the rim is shocking), and the superior team pulled ahead in a hurry.

Just a few weeks ago, the Ute student section chanted "overrated" in Dybantsa's direction as he stood at the foul stripe. But AJ doesn't trouble himself with the opinions of mere mortals, because he strikes the Earth with the force of Zeus when he steps onto the basketball court. He finished with 43 points, shattering the BYU freshman scoring record, and doing it from all three levels.

Let this game be Exhibit A as to why this BYU Cougar could one day be an NBA MVP. Capable of capturing a basketball game, placing the burden on his own shoulders, and delivering strike after strike as his adversaries scramble for answers.

In a 91-78 beatdown, Dybantsa, Wright, Saunders, and Kevin Young's Cougars left the Utes in a void. Absent of reason, meaning, and explanation, BYU basketball showed the nation what a championship contender looks like.